The present invention relates generally to sanitary medical devices and, more particularly, to a convenient and sanitary stool collecting apparatus.
Traditionally, the diagnosis of a potential intestinal ailment begins with an analysis of the patient""s stool. A stool sample is one of the most conventional, elementary and least expensive methods of determining which bacteria, or, less often, parasite, may be infecting a patient. When isolated from stool samples, live colon cells additionally provide health care professionals with an early warning system to detect colorectal cancer. In that colon cancer is responsible for approximately fourteen percent (14%) of all cancer related deaths in the United States, a non-invasive, readily available and easy to use screening examination would provide health care providers with ample time to detect abnormal growths or polyps (from three to five years before a malignancy appears) before they turn cancerous.
Attempts have been made to provide devices that provide a convenient means for enabling a patient to collect a stool sample for subsequent medical analysis. Typically, the more simply constructed devices are difficult to use in a sanitary manner, thus making it difficult to preserve the sample""s homogeneity and purity, while more complicated devices are expensive to manufacture.
It is thus an objective of the present invention to provide a stool collecting apparatus that allows a patient to collect a stool sample (whether solid or liquid), without another""s assistance, with no fear of touching the sample, at a doctor""s office or in the privacy and comfort of home and to supply the doctor with the sample in a hermetically sealed package. The apparatus includes a disposable strip, with or without a seat cover, that supports a sealable stool receptacle in an appropriate position relative to a toilet seat. Once the sample is deposited in the receptacle, the receptacle can be easily removed from the disposable strip and sealed for later processing.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a stool collecting apparatus attachable to a toilet seat includes a disposable strip spanning at least a width of the toilet seat, the disposable strip having adhesive sections at ends thereof and an opening section between the ends. The opening section includes an opening through the disposable strip and a lip spanning the periphery of the opening. A sealable stool receptacle is removably secured to the lip adjacent the opening section. A peel-away backing is preferably removably secured over each of the adhesive sections. The lip may be threaded on an outside thereof, wherein the sealable stool receptacle includes internal threads at a collar thereof that are sized corresponding to the threaded lip for engaging the threaded lip. In this context, the sealable stool receptacle may be perforated adjacent the collar for effecting removal of the collar.
In one embodiment, a disposable seat cover shaped corresponding to the toilet seat is coupled with the disposable strip. The disposable seat cover includes adhesive sections for securing the seat cover and attached disposable strip to the toilet seat. The peel-away backing may be removably secured over the adhesive sections of the disposable seat cover.
In preferred embodiments, the sealable stool receptacle is a plastic zip-lock bag, and the disposable strip is formed of paper.
In accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a stool collecting kit includes sealable receiving structure for receiving and sealing a stool sample, and structure for releasably supporting the sealable receiving structure in a convenient position, wherein the supporting structure is disposable.